LAB Minutes 05/15/20191
Naples, Florida, May 15, 2019
LET IT BE KNOWN that the LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD met on this date in regular session
at 10:05 a.m. in the Headquarters Library with the following members present:
CHAIR: Connie Bettinger – District 3
VICE-CHAIR: Joan Hochschild – District 1
SECRETARY: Joy White – District 4
Marjorie H. Gagnon – District 5
Lynne Nordhoff – District 2
ALSO PRESENT: Catherine Cowser, Assistant Library Director
Karen Tibbetts, Administrative Assistant
Louise Franck, Vice-President, (absent)
Kim Spina, Acquisitions Librarian
Janet Pereira, Technical Services Program Specialist
Tanya Williams, Library Director was unable to attend today’s meeting as she was attending the
Florida Library Association (FLA) Conference in Orlando. Catherine Cowser, Assistant Library
Director represented the Library in her absence.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Ms. Bettinger asked for additions or corrections to the minutes of April 17, 2019. One minor
correction was noted. Dr. Hochschild moved to approve the minutes with the correction noted.
Ms. White seconded and the motion was carried unanimously.
REPORT OF OFFICERS
Ms. Bettinger reported that she attended the Golden Gate Civic Association meeting on
Monday and shared the Library’s expanded hours of operation with those in attendance.
REPORT OF COMMITTEES – None
REPORT OF THE FRIENDS
Mrs. Franck was unable to attend today’s meeting and no report for the Friends of the
Library was provided.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Mrs. Nordhoff shared an article from the April 28, 2019 Naples Daily News referencing the
sale of the Shreve house entitled “70-year-old quaint beach home in Old Naples sells for
$25.5 million.”
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
1) Library Policies – Update
Mrs. Cowser reported that Library staff will be working with the Assistant County
Attorney to update the Library’s Policies as a whole and not as individual pieces.
Staff will be working on this in August/September for formal review in October.
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Packet Pg. 486 Attachment: LAB Meeting Minutes (Regular) - May 15, 2019 (9430 : Library Advisory Board - June 19, 2019)
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This will include: Behavior, Physical/Exterior Use, Meeting Room Use, Collection
Development/Management, Exhibits & Displays, Donations, and any other areas in
need of policy revision
Ms. White stated that the policies would benefit Library staff as it would give them
written support when enforcing policies with patrons.
2) May 3rd Staff Training Day – Attendance & Lunch
Mrs. Cowser thanked Library Advisory Board members who attended the Library’s
Staff Training Day on May 3.
Dr. Hochschild and Mrs. Nordhoff stated that they were impressed with the Active
Shooter training.
Mrs. Cowser stated that the Library engages in similar training throughout the year for
topics such as bomb threats and suspicious packages.
She added that Facilities and Risk Management are conducting inspections of County
buildings to determine what upgrades may be needed.
Some of the upgrades include security cameras, fiberoptic connection, card readers
for staff entry into buildings, and panic buttons.
Currently Immokalee and East Naples library branches have been assessed.
Ms. Bettinger asked that in the event of an evacuation if area business would be
notified. Mrs. Cowser said that the first action taken would be to contact 911 and
Facilities, who would then notify others in the area.
Dr. Hochschild requested for clearer details regarding the expectations of LAB
members to be provided prior to any future events they may be invited to attend so
that they can be better prepared. She was not aware that the meet and greet with LAB
members would last most of the day.
Ms. Bettinger was surprised that many of the questions were not library-related. Some
pertained to the issuing of beach passes at Marco Island. Others pertained to the
removal of the stuffed animals and displays in the children’s departments.
Discussion ensued regarding the reasoning behind the removal of the stuffed animals.
Mrs. Cowser added that the Library held raffles so that patrons could provide new
forever homes for the stuffed animals.
Ms. Bettinger added that the Dr. Seuss items that she provided to the Golden Gate
Library are with the stipulation that they are returned to her in the event they need to
be removed.
3) Database Inquiry: Mergent Intellect & Demographics Now
Mrs. Cowser stated that the Demographics Now database is part of the Gale
subscription provided by the State Library at no cost to the Library.
Kim Spina, Acquisitions Librarian and Janet Pereira, Technical Services Program
Specialist distributed handouts pertaining to Mergent Intellect and an activity/usage
report to explain the disparity of Mergent Intellect statistics.
Mrs. Spina explained that Mergent Intellect is a business database mainly used for
marketing purposes.
If a business has a Dun & Bradstreet number, it is included in this database.
Publicly held companies have their income records displayed, whereas, privately
owned companies may not.
Mergent Intellect provides a hierarchy of executives of a business with hyperlinks as
well as parent companies of businesses.
Searches can be done by industry and shows current employees of businesses.
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Packet Pg. 487 Attachment: LAB Meeting Minutes (Regular) - May 15, 2019 (9430 : Library Advisory Board - June 19, 2019)
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Some patrons want to find the head of a particular business when they have a
complaint that needs to be resolved.
Mrs. Nordhoff asked Mrs. Spina what the most challenging part of her job is, and she
replied that it was making the money for materials stretch.
Mrs. Spina added that more patrons are streaming materials through Hoopla, however,
there is a $8K monthly cap, which is dependent on the downloads, which run from $.99
to $1.99 per item.
She added that she reviews various sources to determine the popularity of materials
when purchasing items. She does try to select authors on the middle of the list as well
as new authors.
Mrs. Nordhoff asked if she reviews Elaine Newton’s summer list, which she does.
Dr. Hochschild asked about the popularity of large print books. Mrs. Spina replied that
they are more expensive than regular print, and are not as popular as audio books.
Mrs. Pereira oversees the statistics of various databases, including Mergent Intellect.
She spoke with an analyst at Mergent who ran the statistics again to confirm that they
were correct.
In the example provided, Mrs. Pereira showed how many searches and downloads
were made on the Mergent Intellect site in March 2019. She added that usage in
March was an all-time high for this database.
She explained that one search may have been conducted by the same user as the
search was done on the same day.
She stated that recently an insurance company owner asked how to search the
database for all Collier County business with more than ten employees. He wanted to
compile a list of these businesses in order to provide them with his marketing
information.
Mrs. Nordhoff asked what the cost of the database was annually. Mrs. Spina replied
that it was $10K per year, and more usage decreased the cost per search.
NEW BUSINESS
1) Request for Reconsideration Policy – Draft Review
Ms. Williams mailed LAB members a draft letter to the patron concerned about the
content of the last episode of season one of the Outlander series, that was discussed
at last month’s meeting.
Dr. Hochschild suggested updating the first paragraph to include the date that the
patron made their request for reconsideration.
The 3 enclosures mentioned in the draft letter included the Library Bill of Rights,
Freedom to View Statement, and Freedom to Read Statement that were provided to
LAB members at last month’s meeting.
After discussion, everyone agreed that this would be the only modification needed.
Ms. Bettinger requested LAB members to be updated on this issue.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
1) Staffing Update
Ms. Cowser reported that there are nine positions pending new hires.
A selection has been made for the Young Adult Program Specialist position at
Headquarters.
Discussion ensued regarding the Young Adult Librarian position at South Regional and
the flexibility for this person to provide Library services to patrons in Everglades City.
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Packet Pg. 488 Attachment: LAB Meeting Minutes (Regular) - May 15, 2019 (9430 : Library Advisory Board - June 19, 2019)
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Packet Pg. 489 Attachment: LAB Meeting Minutes (Regular) - May 15, 2019 (9430 : Library Advisory Board - June 19, 2019)
Naples, Florida, May 15,2019
LET lT BE KNOWN that the LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD met on this date at the Headquarters Library at 10:00 a.m
in order to hold their Annual Meeting. The following members were present:
MEMBERS:Connie Bettinger - District 3, Chair
Joan Hochschild - District 1, Vice-Chair
Joy White - District 4, Secretary
Lynne Nord hoff - District 2
Marjorie H. Gagnon - District 5
ALSO PRESENT: Catherine Cowser, Assistant Library Director
Karen Tibbetts, Administrative Assistant
NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS
The main purpose ofthis meeting was to select new officers for the coming year. Ms. Bettinger opened the
nominations. Dr. Hochschild moved, seconded by Mrs. Nordhoff and carried unanimously to re-elect
Ms. White as Secretary. Mrs. Nordhoff moved, seconded by Mrs. Gagnon and carried unanimously to re-elect
Dr. Hoschchild as Vice-Chairman. Dr. Hochschild asked for nominations for the Library Advisory Board Chair
position. Mrs. Gagnon moved, seconded by Ms. White and carried unanimously to re-elect Ms. Bettinger as
Cha ir.
OTHER BUSINESS . None
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Library Advisory Board, Ms. Bettinger moved, seconded by
Mrs. Nordhoff and carried unanimously, that the meeting be adjourned at 10:05 a.m.
Ap ed by:
Connie Bettlnger, Chair
Library Advisory Board
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Packet Pg. 490 Attachment: LAB Meeting Minutes (Annual) - May 15, 2019 (9430 : Library Advisory Board - June 19, 2019)